Fishing Net Subsidy Scheme

What is the Fishing Net Subsidy Scheme?

Fishing Net Subsidy Scheme is the assistance the Department of Fisheries, Government of Kerala provides to traditional fishermen for buying fishing nets, implemented through the Kerala State Co-operative Federation for Fisheries Development (Matsyafed). The Department describes the scheme plainly: it provides assistance for purchasing fishing nets, and members of cooperative societies affiliated to Matsyafed are the beneficiaries. The Department reports a maximum of Rs 10,000 per unit provided as subsidy for fishing nets, with the assistance covering 200 fishermen in the relevant allocation.

Nets are the single largest recurring capital expense in artisanal fishing. A country craft's engine lasts years; its nets do not. They tear on rock and wreckage, they are lost to weather and to passing trawlers, and the nylon degrades in sun and salt. A traditional fisherman replacing gear is spending on something that will not last a decade, and that recurring cost is what pushes small operators into debt with local financiers.

Matsyafed addresses the problem from two directions at once. It runs net manufacturing facilities with the stated aim of reducing capital expenditure for fishing workers and making fishing nets available at reasonable prices, and it distributes those nets through cooperative stores. The subsidy then reduces what the fisherman pays for them.

Related Matsyafed plan schemes a net buyer should know

• Subsidy for suitable components of fishing gear; limited to 50 per cent of the cost of the gear or Rs 6,000, whichever is less, for fishermen owning craft fitted with outboard motors below 10 HP. Between 1996 and 2016 this reached 6,099 beneficiaries with Rs 378.71 lakh disbursed.
• Bankable scheme subsidy: 25 per cent of a bank loan, released directly to the bank, for traditional fishermen borrowing to purchase fishing inputs. It assisted 2,211 beneficiary groups with Rs 403.56 lakh up to

• Motorisation of country crafts, Rs 30,000 per unit for an outboard motor below 10 HP from 2007-08 onwards.
• Kerosene subsidy: subsidised white kerosene at a subsidy of Rs 25 per litre.

Who is eligible for the fishing net subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are a traditional fisherman in Kerala's artisanal marine or inland sector.
• You are a member of a primary fisheries cooperative society affiliated to Matsyafed.
• You hold a fishermen registration or identity card issued by the Department of Fisheries.
• The net you propose to buy complies with Kerala's regulations on mesh size and permitted gear.
• You have a bank account for the subsidy credit, or are buying through a cooperative store where the subsidy is adjusted at the point of sale.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not a member of an affiliated primary society. A fisherman outside the Matsyafed cooperative network is not eligible under this route.
• The net does not meet the notified minimum mesh size, or is a type of gear banned in Kerala waters. Subsidising prohibited gear is not possible, and using it is separately an offence.
• You have already drawn net or gear assistance, since it is provided once per beneficiary except where a fisherman has not benefited in the previous three years and applications are inadequate.
• You operate a mechanised trawler rather than a traditional craft.
• You bought the net before the society forwarded the application and it was sanctioned.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the fishing net subsidy

1. Check your society membership is current and that the primary fisheries cooperative society is affiliated to Matsyafed. Enrol first if you are not a member.
2. Decide on the net specification, the type of net, mesh size, material and dimensions — and confirm with the society or the Fisheries office that it is permitted gear in Kerala waters.
3. Obtain a quotation, preferably from a Matsyafed cooperative store, which sources from the Federation's own net manufacturing facilities.
4. Submit the application to your society with the membership certificate, fishermen ID card, Aadhaar copy, bank passbook copy and the quotation.
5. Let the society forward it to the Matsyafed district office, where it is checked against the year's allocation and the once-per-beneficiary rule.
6. Wait for sanction before buying. The sanction states the subsidy approved and your balance share.
7. Take delivery of the net, with the subsidy adjusted at purchase where you buy through a cooperative store, or against an invoice for later reimbursement.
8. Complete verification with the society, after which any reimbursable portion is credited to your bank account.

How much benefit does the scheme provide?

The two net-related components serve different situations. The Rs 10,000 net subsidy is a flat maximum and is the more valuable of the two on a substantial net. The gear component is proportional and capped at Rs 6,000, and it is restricted to fishermen owning craft fitted with outboard motors below 10 HP: in other words, to the same artisanal fleet that the motorisation scheme supports.

Where a fisherman is financing the purchase with a bank loan, the bankable scheme adds a further 25 per cent of the loan, released by Matsyafed directly to the bank rather than to the fisherman. This reduces the loan outstanding rather than putting cash in hand, and it has been running since 1988-89.

How to check your application status

1. Ask the society secretary whether the application has been forwarded and note the reference given.
2. Contact the Matsyafed district office for the position against the year's allocation, since the number of beneficiaries funded each year is limited.
3. Contact the Fisheries office for your coastal block for questions on the fishermen register or your identity card.
4. After purchase, confirm the verification has been recorded, as any reimbursement depends on it.

Why fishing net subsidy applications get rejected

• Society not affiliated to Matsyafed, or membership lapsed.
• Net specification not permitted; mesh below the notified minimum, or a banned gear type.
• Previous assistance already drawn, outside the narrow three-year exception.
• Purchase made before sanction, so there is no approved unit to verify against.
• Allocation exhausted. With assistance reported as covering 200 fishermen in a given allocation, the number funded each year is small and applications routinely carry over.
• Bank account not seeded with Aadhaar, which stops the DBT credit.

Key dates and timing

There is no published annual last date, but the number of beneficiaries funded is limited each year, so applications made early in the financial year have a materially better chance than those made late. Fishermen should also plan around the monsoon trawling ban, when the artisanal fleet fishes hardest and worn nets are least affordable to replace. Getting the application in and sanctioned before that period is more useful than replacing gear mid-season.

Help and grievance redressal

• Your primary fisheries cooperative society. The office that receives and forwards the application.
• Matsyafed, head office Thiruvananthapuram, phone +91 471 2458606, email matsyafed@matsyafed.in, and the district offices.
• Department of Fisheries, Kerala, Director's office, phone 0471 2305042, email fisheriesdirector@gmail.com. Portal fisheries.kerala.gov.in.
• Fisheries office for your coastal block, for the fishermen register and identity card.

No agent can obtain this subsidy, and no payment to any individual is required to have an application forwarded. Any such demand should be reported to the Matsyafed district office.